LONG before that action with the English man-of-war which drove me to
Singapore, I sailed in a fine fleet of prahus belonging to the Rajah of Johore
[Sultân Mahmâd Shâh]. We were all then very rich—ah! such numbers of
beautiful wives and such feasting!—but, above all, we had a great many most
holy men in our force! When the proper monsoon came, we proceeded to sea to
fight the Bugismen [of Celebes] and Chinamen bound from Borneo and the
Celebes to Java; for you must remember our Rajah was at war with them. (Jadee
always maintained that the proceedings in which he had been engaged partook of
a purely warlike, and not of a piratical character.)

Our thirteen prahus had all been fitted out in and about Singapore. I wish you
could have seen them, Touhan [Tüan, Sir]. These prahus we see here are nothing
to them, such brass guns, such long pendants, such creeses [Malay kris, dagger]!
Allah-il-Allah! Our Datoos [datuk, a chief] were indeed great men!

Sailing along the coast as high as Patani, we then crossed over to Borneo, two
Illanoon prahus acting as pilots, and reached a place called Sambas [West
Borneo]: there we fought the Chinese and Dutchmen, who ill-treat our
countrymen, and are trying to drive the Malays out of that country. Gold-dust
and slaves in large quantities were here taken, most of the latter being our
countrymen of Sumatra and Java, who are captured and sold to the planters and
miners of the Dutch settlements.
"Do you mean to say," I asked, "that the Dutch countenance such traffic?"
"The Hollanders," replied Jadee, "have been the bane of the Malay race; no one
knows the amount of villainy, the bloody cruelty of their system towards us.
They drive us into our prahus to escape their taxes and laws, and then declare us
pirates and put us to death. There are natives in our crew, Touhan, of Sumatra
and Java, of Bianca [Banka] and Borneo; ask them why they hate the Dutchmen;
why they would kill a Dutchman. It is because the Dutchman is a false man, not
like the white man [English]. The Hollander stabs in the dark; he is a liar!"

However, from Borneo we sailed to Biliton [island between Banka and Borneo]
and Bianca, and there waited for some large junks that were expected. Our cruise
had been so far successful, and we feasted away—fighting cocks, smoking
opium and eating white rice. At last our scouts told us that a junk was in sight.
She came, a lofty-sided one of Fokien [Fuhkien]. We knew these Amoy men
would fight like tiger-cats for their sugar and silks; and as the breeze was fresh,
we only kept her in sight by keeping close inshore and following her. Not to
frighten the Chinamen, we did not hoist sail but made our slaves pull. "Oh!" said
Jadee, warming up with the recollection of the event—"oh! it was fine to feel
what brave fellows we then were!"

Towards night we made sail and closed upon the junk, and at daylight it fell a
stark calm, and we went at our prize like sharks. All our fighting men put on
their war-dresses; the Illanoons danced their war-dance, and all our gongs
sounded as we opened out to attack her on different sides.

But those Amoy men are pigs! They burnt joss-paper; sounded their gongs, and
received us with such showers of stones, hot-water, long pikes, and one or two
well-directed shots that we hauled off to try the effect of our guns, sorry though
we were to do it, for it was sure to bring the Dutchmen upon us. Bang! bang! we
fired at them, and they at us; three hours did we persevere, and whenever we
tried to board, the Chinese beat us back every time, for her side was as smooth
and as high as a wall, with galleries overhanging.

We had several men killed and hurt; a council was called; a certain charm was
performed by one of our holy men, a famous chief, and twenty of our best men
devoted themselves to effecting a landing on the junk's deck, when our look-out
prahus made the signal that the Dutchmen were coming; and sure enough some
Dutch gun-boats came sweeping round a headland. In a moment we were round
and pulling like demons for the shores of Biliton, the gun-boats in chase of us,
and the Chinese howling with delight.

The sea-breeze freshened and brought up
a schooner-rigged boat very fast. We had been at work twenty-four hours and
were heartily tired; our slaves could work no longer, so we prepared for the
Hollanders; they were afraid to close upon us and commenced firing at a
distance. This was just what we wanted; we had guns as well as they, and by
keeping up the fight until dark, we felt sure of escape. The Dutchmen, however,
knew this too, and kept closing gradually upon us; and when they saw our
prahus bailing out water and blood, they knew we were suffering and cheered
like devils. We were desperate; surrender to Dutchmen we never would; we
closed together for mutual support, and determined at last, if all hope of escape
ceased, to run our prahus ashore, burn them, and lie hid in the jungle until a
future day. But a brave Datoo with his shattered prahus saved us; he proposed to
let the Dutchmen board her, creese [stab with a kris] all that did so, and then trust
to Allah for his escape.

It was done immediately; we all pulled a short distance away and left the brave
Datoo's prahu like a wreck abandoned. How the Dutchmen yelled and fired into
her! The slaves and cowards jumped out of the prahu, but our braves kept quiet;
at last, as we expected, one gun-boat dashed alongside of their prize and boarded
her in a crowd. Then was the time to see how the Malay man could fight; the
creese was worth twenty swords, and the Dutchmen went down like sheep. We
fired to cover our countrymen, who, as soon as their work was done, jumped
overboard and swam to us; but the brave Datoo, with many more died as brave
Malays should do, running a-muck against a host of enemies.

The gun-boats were quite scared by this punishment, and we lost no time in
getting away as rapidly as possible; but the accursed schooner, by keeping more
in the offing, held the wind and preserved her position, signaling all the while for
the gun-boats to follow her. We did not want to fight any more; it was evidently
an unlucky day. On the opposite side of the channel to that we were on, the coral
reefs and shoals would prevent the Hollanders following us: it was determined at
all risks to get there in spite of the schooner. With the first of the land-wind in
the evening we set sail before it and steered across for Bianca. The schooner
placed herself in our way like a clever sailor, so as to turn us back; but we were
determined to push on, take her fire, and run all risks.

It was a sight to see us meeting one another; but we were desperate: we had
killed plenty of Dutchmen; it was their turn now. I was in the second prahu, and
well it was so, for when the headmost one got close to the schooner, the
Dutchman fired all his guns into her, and knocked her at once into a wrecked
condition. We gave one cheer, fired our guns and then pushed on for our lives.
"Ah! sir, it was a dark night indeed for us. Three prahus in all were sunk and the
whole force dispersed."

To add to our misfortunes a strong gale sprang up. We were obliged to carry
canvas; our prahu leaked from shot-holes; the sea continually broke into her; we
dared not run into the coral reefs on such a night, and bore up for the Straits of
Malacca. The wounded writhed and shrieked in their agony, and we had to
pump, we fighting men, and bale like black fellows [Caffre or negro slaves]! By
two in the morning we were all worn out. I felt indifferent whether I was
drowned or not, and many threw down their buckets and sat down to die. The
wind increased and, at last, as if to put us out of our misery, just such a squall as
this came down upon us. I saw it was folly contending against our fate, and
followed the general example. "God is great!" we exclaimed, but the Rajah of
Johore came and reproved us. "Work until daylight," he said, "and I will ensure
your safety." We pointed at the black storm which was approaching. "Is that
what you fear?" he replied, and going below he produced just such a wooden
spoon and did what you have seen me do, and I tell you, my captain, as I would
if the "Company Sahib" stood before me, that the storm was nothing, and that we
had a dead calm one hour afterwards and were saved. God is great and Mahomet
is his prophet!—but there is no charm like the Johore one for killing the wind!